Global Golf Post, July 11, 2016

globalgolfpost com JULY 11 2016 Read more from The Posts writers globalgolfpost com now THE TAKE STEVE EUBANKS E MAIL STEVE Pak Was Game Changer For Womens Golf SAN MARTIN CALIFORNIA Just look at the past champions In Gee Chun Inbee Park Na Yeon Choi So Yeon Ryu Eun Hee Ji Six of the last eight before 2016 seven of the last 11 Then scan the weekend leaderboard from this years U S Womens Open Ji Sung Hyun Park Amy Yang Mirim Lee Even Lydia Ko a New Zealander is considered one of the Seoul Sisters because of where she was born It is a remarkable thing when you reflect on it The Republic of Korea a country with roughly one seventh the population of the United States and only 500 golf courses has had 40 women win a total of 149 LPGA events in the past 18 years South Korea will also be the only nation to field a full complement of four women in the Olympic golf competition And half the top 20 players in the world rankings hail from below the 38th parallel Unlike any other sport in history all that success can be traced to one player the lodestar the revolutionary the woman who depending on who you ask either singlehandedly kept the LPGA afloat during a time when the tours very existence was in peril or the person who sparked a change that drove interest and events away Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak played her last competitive round in America on Friday fighting an injured shoulder to an 80 and a missed cut at CordeValle It wasnt the round or the sendoff she expected or deserved Seventeen spectators waited in the grandstands for Paks late afternoon finish offering a smattering of applause as she three putted the final hole from 25 feet Six USGA officials were on hand Karrie Webb and Christina Kim who played in the group immediately ahead came back out to the 18th green to hug a legend and shed a tear or two Everybody cried So Yeon Ryu who has the Nick Price gift of being nice to everyone at all times couldnt hold back after the round something very un Korean like I tried not to get emotional but as soon as Se Ri had her last putt the tears came out Ryu said still battling the magnitude of the moment It was a really funny feeling She is definitely someone who has sacrificed for us so it was a great honor and a very overwhelming experience to play with her in her last round I think its going to be really hard to lose her There will be an empty feeling without her Womens golf looks like it does today because of Se Ri Pak Not that she wanted it Not that she expected it In fact exactly the opposite I had no idea Pak said recounting the way her world changed after she won the 1998 U S Womens Open at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin After winning the tournament I had a really late night celebrating When I got up the next day Korean media had flown over overnight and were waiting for interviews My phone was blowing up Thats when I realized Wow this is different That turned out to be one of the greatest understatements in sports Imagine a single athlete inspiring an entire generation to not only take up a relatively new game but to dominate it within a decade There is no Western equivalent to Se Ri Pak no single person or seminal event that can be pinpointed as the turning point in any other sport Now the single biggest revenue stream for the LPGA is Asian television Without the Korean and Asian TV rights this tour four or five years ago might not be here anymore Stacy Lewis said We were at a point where we had 23 events and half of those were in Asia So the Asia market basically supported us for a couple of years and allowed us to get to where we are now Se Ri was a huge part of that As repulsive as it sounds naysayers contend that the tour had only 23 events because the influx of Korean players drove sponsors away Players even speculated that this Asian lot would kill the womens game Such ugliness isnt uttered out loud anymore but vestiges still linger Everyones gotten better at masking A sports talk radio host said to me on air last Friday I find it hard to stay interested in the womens game when I look at the leaderboard and dont see any recognizable names Thats code for No Smiths or Joneses No no they argue We simply need an American champ to keep Americans interested Funny how that argument doesnt apply to Brooke Henderson Canadian and never came up with Annika Sörenstam Swede or Webb Australian Hopefully those who dismiss womens golf because of its makeup will remove the plank from their eye and take another look Then maybe the world will appreciate the accomplishments of Ko the generosity of Ryu and the incredible contributions Se Ri Pak one of the all time greats made in her 18 years in the game l Se Ri Pak Imagine a single athlete inspiring an entire generation to not only take up a relatively new game but to dominate it within a decade

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